Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

This was the first time Qin Jingru had ever seen so many industrial vouchers.

She had only heard of this thing before.

Because the number and recipients of industrial vouchers are limited, some are issued for every 20 yuan of wages, while others are issued periodically according to urban residents' household registration.

To buy the three major appliances, or scarce industrial products such as radios, woolen fabrics, and yarn, one must have industrial coupons.

Neither her income nor her family's spending power was sufficient to allow Qin Jingru to have any contact with industrial vouchers.

So when the young girl saw that Li Huaide had only come to visit, he had already given her so many industrial vouchers, she was truly astonished.

What kind of family could be so generous?

Thinking back to when he entered the room, Zhou Feng was leaning on the bed like an old man, while the young girl was busy tidying up. Li Huaide couldn't help but click his tongue.

Previously, Director Sun of the Special Operations Department said that Zhou Feng and he had similarities, and he thought that people were praising their good relationship.

So this is what it looks like?

But it makes sense, if the Special Operations Unit wanted to investigate someone, wouldn't they be able to dig up their entire background in no time?

His petty affairs couldn't withstand scrutiny at all; it's just that people didn't want to get involved.

"Brother, you're having a really comfortable time at home!"

Despite his sighs, Li Huaide's envy was palpable.

Who wouldn't want to just lie at home, have food served to them, clothes done for them, and have a young girl of eighteen or nineteen wait on them around?

Let alone in this era, even in the old society, this would be a rare treat.

At least for Li Huaide, he definitely wanted it, but he certainly didn't have the means to get it.

"Hey! It's alright. Since Brother Li is here today, let's have a good chat. How about you eat here tonight?"

Zhou Feng generously pulled Li Huaide to sit down in a chair and looked at him earnestly.

Come to think of it, quite a few people have eaten at his place, but Li Huaide, his best friend, has never actually been here!

That won't do!

I have to treat everyone to dinner today, and I have to put on this show...

"How about we go out to eat?"

Seeing that Li Huaide had this idea, Zhou Feng shook his head sharply: "Brother Li, listen to me! Today I'll bring out some of my best stuff!"

Seeing his mysterious demeanor, Li Huaide also became interested.

He must know Zhou Feng's abilities and connections. Even Zhou Feng said it was a treasured item. What could it be?

After imagining it for a few seconds, Li Huaide nodded with a smile and reached out to take the cola that Zhou Feng handed him.

"Actually, your brother came to see you today because he has something important to discuss."

Li Huaide glanced sideways at Qin Jingru in the room halfway through his sentence.

Zhou Feng shook his head indifferently, indicating that he could speak directly.

In any case, Zhou Feng's biggest secret is his cooperation with the organization, a fact that Li Huaide is completely unaware of.

Therefore, whatever Li Huaide says will not involve any confidential matters.

"You've forgotten about what you said before about promoting Comrade Ma Yingjie, haven't you? Those factories haven't even started operating yet, so I'll transfer him to my side and mentor him for a while, so he can gain some work experience."

"Have him come and help you when you need him."

Before Li Huaide could finish speaking, Zhou Feng had already grasped his hand: "Brother Li, you're a man of principle!"

Although he remembered Li Huaide and thought about having him come over as his assistant, he didn't really understand what an assistant's job entailed.

He had originally planned to ask others, but unexpectedly, Li Huaide solved the problem for him directly!

What a good person! What a truly good person!

Li Huaide keenly noticed the gratitude on Zhou Feng's face, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

Isn't that what he's been busy with all this time?

The most important thing is to make Zhou Feng appreciate his kindness.

"Brother Li, in my opinion, you should be the factory manager of the steel rolling mill. You're better than that..."

"Hey hey hey!"

Before Zhou Feng could finish speaking, Li Huaide interrupted him, feigning displeasure: "Comrade Zhou Feng, that's not right. Even a deputy factory director can serve his comrades!"

"However, I envy you too! Being the deputy director of three factories simultaneously—isn't that much better than being the director of the steel rolling mill?"

As the two were talking, Qin Jingru, who was wiping the kettle, almost dropped it on the ground!

The deputy factory directors of three factories?

Is he referring to Brother Zhou Feng?

Does Brother Zhou Feng have such great abilities?

Isn't he much more capable than the secretary of their commune?

Hearing the commotion coming from Qin Jingru's side, Li Huaide glanced over casually before turning back.

It seems that this girl's relationship with Zhou Feng is only so-so; she doesn't even know the most basic information about him.

Zhou Feng didn't seem to care much.

The only time you can show off is when you're with close friends or when you're trying to impress girls.

The two were chatting casually when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Comrade Zhou Feng, I've come to help you tidy up the house."

After knocking twice, Yu Li opened the door and was taken aback to see Li Huaide and Qin Jingru inside.

Yu Haitang, who was following behind her, also peeked inside while standing on tiptoe.

Although Zhou Feng had previously said that they weren't a good match, after hesitating for a night, Yu Haitang decided to give it another try.

After all, there are very few people with conditions like Zhou Feng's. In fact, Yu Haitang has never seen anyone like him in the entire city of Beiping.

So young, so talented, and with such good prospects.

Even if the attitude was a bit bad, Yu Haitang could accept it.

"I'm sorry, Comrade Yu Li, I forgot to tell you that I have guests at home today, so I won't be able to make it."

Zhou Feng waved towards the door, and Yu Li quickly nodded and replied, "It's alright, it's alright, I'll come again tomorrow."

Li Huaide turned around and saw the two pretty Yu sisters, and a mischievous smile immediately appeared on his face.

No wonder that even though Comrade Bai Ling and Zhou Feng were closer, Director Sun of the Special Operations Division was so eager to send him to Zhou Feng to test the waters.

So, Brother Zhou Feng is doing quite well in this tenement!

Not only do they not have to worry about daily necessities, but they also have so many advanced appliances, and they are surrounded by such beautiful women!

He seemed to recognize the young woman who had been standing at the back earlier!

To be fair, although Comrade Li Huaide was a lecherous man, he always upheld the spirit of Cao Cao and did not provoke young girls.

Therefore, even though Yu Haitang was the factory's most beautiful girl, Li Huaide did not take advantage of his position to do anything to her; he just thought she looked familiar.

After Yu Li closed the door and left, Zhou Feng could tell from the look in Li Huaide's eyes that the guy had definitely misunderstood.

Men understand men best. After spending some time with Zhou Feng, Li Huaide knew what kind of person he was.

Even if someone appears very upright on the surface, they are definitely a restless person at heart.

With three such pretty girls surrounding him, how could he resist making a move?

After hesitating for a few seconds, Li Huaide decided to teach Zhou Feng some of his tricks.

"Brother, you did this a bit too hastily."

Li Huaide moved closer to Zhou Feng, glanced at Qin Jingru out of the corner of his eye, and then lowered his voice.

Meeting Zhou Feng's slightly questioning gaze, he gestured towards Qin Jingru and the doorway.

"It's true that a young man who isn't a bit of a playboy is wasting his youth, but even a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow. Aren't you afraid that Comrade Bai Ling will misunderstand if you keep people around you like this?"

Li Huaide still gave Zhou Feng face, only using the word "misunderstanding".

Zhou Feng listened attentively at first, but by the end, a dark line appeared on his face, and he pouted at Li Huaide.

"Brother Li! Do you think I'm like you? Making moral mistakes, going for all sorts of women, good or bad! I have nothing to do with them!"

The two knew each other quite well, and had even talked very openly while drinking together before.

Therefore, they have nothing to hide when they speak in front of each other.

"Hey! Brother, you're wrong about that. Liu Lan's family is struggling so much! As a man, how could I just stand by and watch? Helping her is the only right thing to do! And if she's grateful and wants to repay the favor, how could I refuse?"

Li Huaide spoke these words with righteous indignation, his posture upright and his demeanor in no way inferior to Li Huaide's.

Zhou Feng rolled his eyes at him and said, "Where's Qin Huairu? Did you try something but failed?"

In the original story, Li Huaide did indeed want to win over Qin Huairu, but Sha Zhu discovered his intentions and he got a beating.

But in this world, because of Zhou Feng's matter, Sha Zhu was first detained by the Special Operations Department for a period of time and lost his job, so such a thing should not happen.

So... Qin Huairu was taken advantage of by Li Huaide?

Li Huaide was stunned when he heard Zhou Feng ask this question, and his eyes widened in surprise.

Besides Qin Huairu, no one else should know about this. How did Zhou Feng find out?

"Sigh, brother, you've been playing with eagles your whole life, only to have your eyes pecked out by one! Who would have thought this woman would be so ruthless?"

Thinking back to what happened, Li Huaide couldn't help but shudder.

After that kick, he almost thought he would have to say goodbye to women for the rest of his life!

Did this really happen? Even without Sha Zhu, Li Huaide didn't succeed?

Zhou Feng looked Li Huaide up and down with some surprise. It seemed that Brother Li's physical fitness was still a bit lacking!

The two chatted inside the house, while the Yu sisters outside returned to their own rooms.

As soon as Yu Li stepped inside, she heard Yu Haitang behind her suddenly scream and then start pacing excitedly around the room.

"No, what happened to you? You scared me!"

Yu Li gently patted her chest and asked in an annoyed tone.

"A man, that man!"

Yu Haitang pointed in the direction of Zhou Feng's room.

"What happened to the man?"

"That man is the deputy director of our steel rolling mill! I've seen him at the factory! How could Zhou Feng know him?"

Yu Li sighed helplessly.

It's really strange that my own sister is making a fuss over nothing. What's so special about Zhou Feng knowing a deputy factory director?

Isn't he also a deputy factory director? And he owns three factories!

For some reason, she instinctively hid the information she had overheard and had no intention of telling Yu Haitang.

As darkness fell, Zhou Feng opened his refrigerator and took out a few slices of his treasured beef.

"Brother Li, I'll treat you to something good today. This stuff is really expensive; I haven't even had a chance to eat it before!"

Li Huaide curiously approached, looking at the pieces of meat that Zhou Feng had turned over.

"This is beef? The marbling is quite nice!"

Li Huaide picked up a bag at random and looked it over. He then curiously rubbed the marble pattern on the beef through the packaging.

Qin Jingru also came over.

In this era, beef, though not abundant, is not uncommon either.

At least Li Huaide could still get his hands on some beef if he wanted to eat it, but this was the first time he had ever seen beef with this kind of texture.

"Brother Li, this is good stuff, it's A5 Wagyu beef from Xiao Ri Zi."

"What do you mean?"

Li Huaide asked out of curiosity.

As a fellow show-off, he sensed that Zhou Feng was about to reveal some information he didn't know, which would be crucial for him to show off in the future, so he listened with extra care.

"Only about 1% of cattle can reach the A5 grade. A represents its meat yield, and 5 represents its meat quality. Look at this marbling, color, firmness, fat, and luster; all of these are top-notch to get this grade."

"These cows eat pasture, corn, and barley. They need to be groomed and massaged regularly, and they need to be cooled down in the summer and kept warm in the winter. Some even listen to music and drink beer."

"The ribeye I've brought out, for example, only yields about 30 jin (15 catties) per cow. It's one in a hundred, so wouldn't you say it's a good cut?"

Li Huaide and Qin Jingru were both dumbfounded.

If you say that this cow is relatively rare and precious, they can understand.

But after classifying cattle into different grades, they still have to be fed, cared for so meticulously on a daily basis, and even allowed to drink alcohol and listen to music. This is going too far!

"Damn it, these oxen are living better than me, so they deserve to eat my ass!"

Li Huaide glanced indignantly at the beef in front of him, but this was actually a deliberate attempt to liven up the atmosphere.

As a factory director, he couldn't possibly be truly envious of a cow!

Qin Jingru genuinely looked envious.

Listening to Zhou Feng's description of the scene, she felt that the cows were living a much more comfortable life than they did in the countryside.

If I could live that kind of life, even being a cow wouldn't be so bad...

All I can say is that this girl has suffered too much since childhood.

"Brother, you know this cow is so rare, it can't be cheap, right?"

Li Huaide pursed his lips, suddenly remembering the issue of price.

With such exquisite packaging and such a precious cow, it must be very expensive!

We've finally arrived! We've finally arrived!

Zhou Feng suppressed the urge to smirk; it was finally time for him to show off.

He cleared his throat and said, trying to sound calm, "It's not expensive. One piece like this would cost 144 dollars. Oh, right, in US dollars."